The Fourth Heart
by Dark-Automaton
Summary: Phobos and his lackeys(in this case, Cedric, Miranda, and Frost) manage to escape from their prison. As the Guardians attempt to stop them, Phobos whips out a spell he's never tested before. Unfortunately, or not, it backfires, and sends the nine out into a world between reality and fantasy.
1. Prologue

AN: WITCH and Touhou don't belong to me, nor does their characters. This also has a hint or two of AU(in other words, Phobos falls for the WITCH's trick at the end of season 2, and Cedric and Miranda are more or less still on Phobos' side).

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy my story:

**The Fourth Heart**

**Prologue**

Lightning arched in every direction imaginable. Whirlwinds threatened everything not tied down. Fireballs flew left and right, along with their watery counterparts. Plant roots and vines spurted from the quaking ground.

"I hate Mondays," Irma complained, throwing another ball of water at the giant snake-man, aka Cedric.

The jailbreak wasn't so big in numbers as the usual, as it had only the four escapees. However, each one was a gigantic danger to society, whichever way you put it. The aforementioned snake-man, Cedric, was among them, as well as his alleged girlfriend(much to the Guardians' disgust), Miranda. The other two were none other than the Prince of Evil himself, Prince Phobos, and his trusty bounty hunter, Frost.

At the moment, Frost kept Cornelia preoccupied, cutting down vines that shot up in his rhino's way. Irma and Taranee were trying to stop Cedric with the "hot and cold" treatment, although he was very determined to knock them down with his tail. Hay Lin was busy redirecting Miranda's webs with her own wind. Last but not least, Will and Elyon were fighting off Phobos.

"First a pop-quiz, then a jailbreak? Monday the thirteenth really has it out for us." Taranee commented, preparing another fireball, "I don't know how much longer I can handle this."

"Don't let up, girls!" Will said, "Just a little bit longer!"

"Don't waste your breath, Guardian." Phobos grinned, sending a charge of magical electricity at Elyon. Elyon dodged it, but found herself being chased by the lightning. As the Meridian queen flew around, trying to escape her brother's spell, Phobos pulled a large tome from seemingly nowhere.

"I shall never be imprisoned again, but I can't say the same for you!" He laughed, opening the book. He held out one hand, and recited the grimoire's words,

"Boundary of Life and Death,

"Boundary of Real and Not,

"Send these Guardians,

"Where they shall eternally rot!"

Of course, the original text wasn't pointed directly at the Guardians of the Veil. And as fragile and unstable as magic is, such a mistake would mean everything. Instead of sending the girls to some prison dimension, like what he was hoping for, a large rift appeared in the floor.

Unlike the folds that allowed the girls to move between Earth and Meridian, this one was a hellish red color, and there were golden eyes staring out from it. A powerful wind picked up, and began dragging everything it could towards the gap.

The Guardians situated in the air were the first to go, namely Hay Lin, Taranee, and Irma. While Irma and Taranee screamed in surprise and fright respectively, Hay Lin let out a cheerful "Weeeeee!" as she was pulled in.

Cornelia covered her feet with vines, trying to keep herself grounded. In the process, she let go of Frost and his steed, getting the two sucked in. Frost cursed rather loudly, while his rhino simply roared, as they fell in as well. Will had to hold in a chuckle, before she realized she too was being pulled towards the vortex.

She called out, "Cornelia!"

As Cornelia attempted to help her friend, Cedric tried to do the same for Miranda. He hugged her close, trying to shield her from the wind. However, as if someone really did have it in for them, they were knocked down by a powerful gust of wind. In one go, the portal swallowed up the bizarre couple.

Phobos clung to the bars of a nearby cell. While he hadn't really took the time to study his surroundings since the escape from his cell, he was sort of glad he had not yet left the dungeons just yet. To his and the last remaining Guardians' chagrin, the persistent winds picked up once more.

Cornelia and Will were loosely tied to the ground, their bodies caught up in the wind as they tried to gain control of their flight. Suddenly, the vines that literally rooted them to the ground snapped, unable to take the stress anymore. As the girls screams were cut short by the vortex swallowing them, Phobos almost laughed in triumph.

That is, if he wasn't losing his grip. Realizing his mistake in the book, he angrily threw it to the portal, "Damn you! Wait a min-AAAAAAHHHH!"

While throwing the book, he had let one of his hands off the bars. He fell through the gap, screaming curses at everything he could think of, before getting cut off by the vortex. As soon as he was through, the gap snapped shut. besides the gashes in stone, and the scorch marks from lightning and fire, there was naught a trace of the battle beforehand.

A few minutes later, the room filled with guards, the young queen cutting through the middle. She looked on in confusion, asking nobody in particular, "Where did everybody go?"


	2. Water, Fire, and Air

AN: In the previous episode, Phobos messes with an ancient spell, and gets the Guardians of the Veil, his lackeys(Cedric, Miranda, and Frost in this case), and himself sucked through a creepy red fold.

**The Fourth Heart**

**Chapter 1**

**Water, Fire, and Air**

The first thing that crossed Irma's mind when she went through that portal was, "What's on the other side?"

At first, she thought it was going to be one of those prison dimensions you'd hear about in fantasy cartoons, where the good guy would store their supervillains until it was time to make a reappearance. Of course, the other option was space, judging by the fact that the fold literally vacuumed them in.

However, both of these theories were demolished when she could feel grass and dirt greet her roughly. Shortly after her own arrival, two other thumps greeted her, before blacking out.

Taranee was a bit more aware of the extent of their situation than Irma. She worried more too. Was she going to be able to see her family and friends again? Were the others sucked in as well? Even as she blacked out from her unceremonious arrival, she was preparing for the worst.

Hay Lin, unlike the other two, was almost blissfully unaware. She had full confidence that the swirly winds wouldn't harm them. Unfortunately, she forgot to take the landing pad into account. She gave a short "Ow!" before she herself passed out, either from the rush or the fall.

Hours later...

The first to awaken was Taranee. She shot up into a sitting position, her eyes shut tightly. _"Take it easy, Taranee."_ She told herself in her head, _"If you woke up, at least that means they wont hurt you. Or they might want to see you suffer- no! None of that. Now, open your eyes in 1... 2... 3!"_

Her eyes opened to blurriness. Taranee was confused at first, before unconsciously feeling around with her hands for her glasses. To her surprise, she found them, slightly dusty, but not cracked or broken. She put them on, and was surprised by her surroundings.

The room she was in was nothing like the dirty dungeon she had imagined. Instead, she found herself in a room consisting of wood, with herself sitting upon a mattress with a blanket on her legs. The room reminded her of the Silver Dragon's, minus all the lavish Chinese decorations. She looked to her side, seeing two other sets of mattresses and blankets.

Looking closer, she saw that they were occupied. Namely, by Irma and Hay Lin! Taranee sighed with relief, "At least they're okay... Wait a minute."

Upon even further inspection, none of them were in their Guardian forms. No, they were back in their regular early teen forms, with their regular clothing mostly intact. Judging from her own condition, Taranee could only assume that when she fell through the portal, she and the others went back into their true forms.

She was snapped from her thoughts by a yawn. Irma sat up groggily, and stretched her arms. She sleepily greeted Taranee, "Good morning, Tara. Didn't know I was having a sleep... over."

She came to a slow realization as she woke up, "Um, Taranee, please tell me we're having a sleepover at Hay Lin's and forgot to pack."

Taranee shook her head, "Nope, sorry. I don't know where we are either."

One of the walls seemed to slide open, a voice saying, "So, you guys are finally awake, huh?"

The Water and Fire Guardians turned to the apparent doorway, seeing an older teen holding a tray in her arms. Physically, she was unassuming; dark hair, dark eyes, and of Asian origin. What really made them wonder about their location was the way this new girl was dressed.

She wore what resembled some kind of red dress that reached an inch or two below her knees. Her arms were adorned with detached sleeves that were tied to her upper biceps with red ribbons, and her hair was adorned with a large red ribbon and two tube-like ornaments that covered a pair of braid that framed her face. She wasn't wearing shoes, but a pair of socks. And the entire ensemble was framed with frills, to add to the complexity of it.

"Uh... Yeah," Irma was just too confused for wit at the moment, "Did we just step into some kind of cosplay theater without knowing?"

"What's cosplay?" The new girl asked, placing the tray on the ground before them. Taranee spoke up before any more quips from Irma, "Ma'am, could you please tell us where we are?"

"And where you got that outfit," Irma said, before receiving a light smack on the head from Taranee. The other girl didn't seem anything more than a little annoyed, but answered, "I guess it's safe to assume you three are outsiders. I'm Reimu Hakurei, and it's my 'honor' to be the first to welcome you to Gensokyo."

"Gen-so-what?" A groggy Hay Lin asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she woke up. The new girl, Reimu, sighed, and began, "Where do I begin?"


	3. Frost and Crimson

AN: I'm going in the order of those who were pulled in. We've already introduced Taranee, Irma, and Hay Lin in the Hakurei Shrine, and the groups will go in this order: Frost and Crimson, Cedric and Miranda, Will and Cornelia, and finally Phobos will go alone.

**The Fourth Heart**

**Chapter 2**

**Frost and Crimson**

"Oww..." A giant of a man tried to sit up. Emphasis on 'tried', his back felt like Gargoyle had stepped on him. After feeling a few bruises on his back, he opted to just lay down. That is, until he heard a faint sound, which seemed like a cross between a groan and a beast's whimper.

He recognized it as his loyal steed, Crimson. With the thought of his only companion and ride hurt, Frost slowly pushed himself off the dirt. He saw his rhino a few meters away, on it's side. He went over to check on Crimson, and was relieved to find no serious injuries.

"I'll let you lay there for a bit. No use trying to ride out on a broken steed," He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Frost decided to survey the area, like any good bounty hunter would do in a sticky situation.

He and Crimson were right before the shoreline of what looked like a massive lake. It was very still, but Frost could see a few minnows swimming beneath the surface. Above the surface was a blanket of fog, preventing those on one side from seeing just how big it was, nor what was on the other side. Surrounding the lake itself was mainly fields, except for what seemed to be a sudden forest edge on the horizon.

"Maybe Prince Phobos' spell only sent the Guardians to prison," He reasoned, "It must've just sent everyone else to another part of Meridian. Genius, sending us out of the dungeons, while sending the Guardians to heck."

The hunter grinned, before looking back at the lake. There was a figure floating above the surface, it was foggy, but he could make out the outline of a pair of wings. His grin faded, and he drew his ax, "Guardians?!"

As the figure grew closer, he noticed that this "Guardian" looked a bit small compared to the others, even when they were in their puny human forms. Among other things, the Guardians always wore purple and some kind of greenish-blue, while this one seemed to wear only regular blue. He knew he wasn't the sharpest knife in the crayon box, but Frost was already beginning to doubt that this new arrival was any sort of Guardian.

He stood still in his battle stance, ready to strike. The winged person landed themselves, barefooted, onto the pebbled shore of the lake. She looked a few years younger than the Guardians in human form, although the six crystal blue... things sticking out of her back like wings, and the flight, suggested otherwise. She wore a blue knee length dress with a square collar and white triangles lining the bottom, and her hair and eyes were equally blue. The only non-blue things on her were the green bow on her head, the white blouse under the dress, and the red tie.

She gave the bounty hunter a funny look, "Never seen a Youkai like you before."

Frost blanched, "What?"

"A Youkai. You know..." The girl trailed off, scratching behind her head.

"No, I don't know." Frost said plainly, "Just tell me where I am, and I'll let you live."

"Hey, don't talk that way to me! I'm the strongest!" the girl yelled, floating a couple inches in the air for emphasis.

Frost chuckled, "If you're the strongest, than that means that everyone here must be weak."

"Exactly," the girl said with a goofy-looking grin, "Nobody is stronger than Cirno!"

"Well, where I'm from, nobody is stronger than Frost," the troll-like man grinned. It was a bit of a lie, but the kid didn't need to know that. This "Cirno" raised her arms up, and in the length of a few moments, the temperature dropped to a bitter chill. She pointed her open palms at Frost, and a shower of ice crystals shot out at him.

Frost ran to the side, avoiding the spray of ice. This had to be repeated a few times, before she summoned up a sphere comprised of smaller blue spheres, expanding out in all directions. Frost once more tried to dodge, this time some of the blue orbs hitting him in the chest. It felt like being hit by a ball of ice, but he ignored the pain.

The projectiles disappeared suddenly, before the girl continued her assault. Frost was very confused at this; why would she stop her barrage while he was hit? Just as he was beginning to start thinking for once in his life, the girl pulled out what looked like a slip of paper. She grinned at him, and called out,

"Try standing against this! Ice Sign: Icicle Fall!"

From her vantage point in the sky above Frost, Cirno began shooting those icicles outwards in lines of three, along with yellow orbs of light below her feet. The icicles bent in midair, pointing more directly towards the ground, effectively trapping Frost amongst the yellow orbs. The icicles began pointing more and more towards the center, and Frost was having trouble weaving through the gaps of the projectiles.

The process repeated itself a few times, before Frost heard a strange sound, like one of those Earth machines, clocks he thought, counting down. Suddenly, the air around the girl seemed to glow and burst outward, destroying the projectiles. Cirno pouted, "So what if you made it past my first spell? I'll get you with the next one!"

Frost put himself in a defensive stance, ready to run in any direction if needed. As he has learned from the fights with the Guardians(as much as he can learn), it's that you let the ones with magic deal with flying targets. Seeing as he had no one with magic on his side, nor any magic of his own, it was "dodge or die".

The girl shouted another strange title, "Freeze Sign: Perfect Freeze!"


	4. Cedric and Miranda

AN: Sorry for the hiatus; school and CAP have not been kind. Now, I am well aware that Miranda and Cedric have a bit of an age gap despite being in love. In this fiction, I'm assuming that Miranda is actually in her late teens, but just really petite, and that Cedric is in his early or mid twenties. That way, Cedric doesn't look like a creeper, and Miranda doesn't look ridiculous.

**The Fourth Heart**

**Chapter 2**

**Cedric and Miranda**

Miranda couldn't quite remember her trip to... wherever she was. All she could come up with was the bizarre headache that was fading, and the fact that the man she had recently announced to be her lover was taking a nap on the stone floor. The later of which would be fine, if they had any idea where they were, and if they weren't out in the open.

She scrambled to his side, noticing herself to be in her human form again, and began shaking Cedric's shoulder. She whispered loudly in his ear,

"Cedric! Cedric, get up!"

The gigantic snake-man stirred, mumbling in his sleep, "Five more minutes, mum..."

Miranda growled, "Cedric, if you don't get up right now, I swear on the Heart of Kandrakar, Elyon's wrath will be the least of your worries!"

That got his attention, as he shot up, eyes wide. His head darted from side to side, confusion taking over, "Where are we?"

"Hell if I know," Miranda shrugged, trying to hide her shaking. It wasn't very cold, though. In fact, it was actually really warm in these caves, almost boiling. Miranda could only assume that wherever they were, they were near some kind of volcano. More of a reason to find a way out.

The snake-man sat up as Miranda inspected the caves that surrounded them, and slithered to her side. He sniffed the air, flicking his tongue about, turning in the direction of another tunnel, "I smell civilization that way."

"Let's see where it takes us," Miranda said, "I think it would be a little less conspicuous if you shifted, in case the place is full of humans."

Cedric gave a simple nod, before getting enveloped in the same electric blue magic that manifested during his shifting. In a matter of a few seconds, he was back in his regular blond human guise. He extended his arm to Miranda, asking politely, "Shall we?"

Miranda smiled, and took his arm, letting him bring her towards the city.

~0~

As the two walked down the tunnels, Cedric couldn't help but notice the lack of subterranean life. Even in Phobos' dungeons, there were a few rats and insects crawling about. However, in these natural caves, not even a bat. Something was off about this place, and he had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't just that scratching noise.

"What was that?" Miranda whispered, turning her head to try and look behind them. Nothing.

"I don't see any animals," Cedric said back, albeit quietly. The scratching was soon replaced with footsteps, heading towards the two. Four pairs of glowing red eyes singled out Cedric and Miranda from the shadows, a very large figure heading towards them.

Miranda and Cedric did the only sensible thing to do when faced with an obvious monster, they shifted. The figure stopped short, the red lights widening. After a moment's pause, it came into the faint light of the glowing crystals that seemed to illuminate the cave system. Cedric looked between this creature and Miranda, a brow raised.

The creature before them appeared to be a large spider Changeling, almost as tall as Cedric's naga-like form. It had a total of eight legs, and was covered in golden hairs. The glowing red eyes were placed in a somewhat diamond shape on each side of its head, and for unknown reasons, it was crawling upside down.

"What the...?" It said in a surprisingly feminine voice, expressing shock. Miranda had, much to her shock, made eye contact.

The creature dropped to the floor, adjusting its body to land on its legs. When it reestablished eye contact, it bowed its head deeply, saying in a polite tone, "Good morning, my name is Yamame Kuroudani."


End file.
